Sunday, 18 July 2010

Sunday Star - Ingrid Bergman

This is going to be a new "series", if you like. Every Sunday I'll make a little post about a different star...and I hope it won't be too boring!

So, for the first "Sunday Star", I went to my "Film Stars" folder, closed my eyes and clicked...

...on what happened to be the lovely Ingrid Bergman's folder.

Besides the fact that she's Millie's favourite actress ( ;D ), I don't know all that much about her - despite having read her biographies. However, I love her very much.

She may not be one of my favourite actresses, but that's purely because I've not seen nearly enough of her films (suggestions would be welcome!!).

She was so beautiful, inside and out - I know, that sounds horribly clichéd, but I honestly believe that Ingrid is an almost perfect example of how to be beautiful in a completely natural and honest way. ♥

One of my favourite little stories about Ingrid is of how, when she first went over to Hollywood, she was told that she'd have to pluck her eyebrows, wear more make up etc. etc., but she wouldn't and never did. When I read that in one of her biogs. I was like "Go Ingrid!!!" ;D

Oh, and then there's her a.m.a.z.i.n.g. smile! Seriously, it's one of the sunniest smiles ever!! It just makes me want to start grinning for no reason! :')

^How cool is she in this photo!? :O

Favourite Ingrid Role: Ilsa Lund in Casablanca (I seriously need to see more of her films...)

She's actually the only reason I like Casablanca. I'm not a huge fan of Bogie, and I really don't find the storyline at all entertaining, so...it's all about Ingrid.

Yeah, she was very natural, not only because the way she looked, but also because she loved to give her characters humanity and realism (by not looking perfect the whole film). I enjoyed very much "Gaslight" w/Charles Boyer; "Notorious" & "Indiscreet" w/Cary Grant and "For whom the bell tolls" w/Gary Cooper :)Two anecdotes about her that I read in "People will talk" by John Kobal.a) When she first arrived to USA, she was invited to a party, where she saw a bunch of stars. She was amazed, but nobody seemed to notice her. One man finally talked to her, and said that everybody had to live that situation, that she looked lonely, and then invited her to a party. The man was Ernst Lubitsch. Ingrid went accompanied by her maid to his party some weekend, entered to Lubtisch house, saw a bunch of people like in every room, tried to look for the director, went to the pool, never saw him, and finally decided to go back to the car where the maid was waiting and just go away.b) She says that Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons hated her, that everyone respected these women and sent them presents for Christmas, but she didn't (she even rejected invitation to parties hosted by them). One day Hopper went to Italy and Ingrid invited her to a house in the countryside. Rossellini said it was ok, it was her decision. So the woman started to ask lots of questions, and Rossellini just answered "I don't know".Ingrid was nervous because the situation she had got herself into. At the end Hopper wrote a nasty article, saying that when she left, Ingrid stayed by the door, looking sad, yearning for the American freedom.

I think I've written too much, and trying to think in English just tires me out:) Great idea for a series of posts btw:)

Here you will find my often incoherent ramblings about my favourite classic film stars, reviews of the many films I watch, and various other things pertaining to the wonderful world of classic film. Occasionally I stray from my classic film blog status and post about more recent (i.e. post-1970) films and tv series. Hope you enjoy reading and don't be afraid to comment - I love talking to my fellow film buffs!!